Nostalgia
by PissyNovelist
Summary: The Lone Wanderer, now the Courier, tells the gut-wrenching, tear jerking story of Charon and the ruins of D.C to her other ghoul companion. Awful summary D: Spoiler alert! Rated for language and sexual inuenndo.


**This story contains so many spoilers, it's not even funny. Just a warning.**

**So, I have like… hundreds of stories on the go, but once I thought of this oneshot, I had to write it. It's 12:30 AM, I have school tomorrow, and sleep is awesome.**

Raul sat across from the Courier, gun out of his holster and on full alert. She smacked her gum and blew bubble after bubble, pushing around the embers within the makeshift fire pit to gain some warmth. She looked around, pulling out her gun. Off the stump, she crouched and supported her elbows upon the wooden support system. She smirked, closing her left eye to make a perfect shot. The enemy sat within her target.

"Sure boss, make the old man crouch in the dirt to keep hidden."

"Oh, you're not old you miserable gho- HEY. YOU STOLE IT." She stood up, pointing at the body that was falling to the band, black liquid seeping from his body. Raul merely snickered, rubbing his hands together and placing them towards the fire.

"Oh, hell no! You stole my kill! Again, you prick! God fucking damn it,_ Charon_."

"Charon? Now I know how awkward it is to be called the wrong name. Try it with me boss, R-A-U-L." He chuckled, stopping abruptly as she held her head within her hands.

"Hey, I was just kidding around." Raul wiggled over to her, placing his hands over her rocking shoulders. She was crying now, weeping as softly as she could into her knees. The Courier folded into herself, sniffling and wiping her nose upon her sleeve.

"I know you were just kidding. It's okay, really, Raul. I'm, uh… I'm going to go to bed. Night." She went to stand, but the old ghoul grabbed her hand. He pulled her down and wrapped his torn arms around her form.

"Now now, that won't do. Tell me the story because I know you have one." The Courier sighed, scooting towards the fire. Instead of speaking, she sang. She sang an ancient song that Raul's ears hadn't heard in years.

"I don't want to set the world on fire. I just want to start… a flame in your heart." She got chocked up immediately, folding into her knees and weeping. Raul held her tighter, stroking her shiny teal hair.

"It started when I left the Vault."

"Which one? Vault thirteen? Twenty one-"

"No. A Vault in the ruined of D.C. Vault one hundred and one. Vault one-oh-fucking-one. I didn't leave, really. I was forced out when my dad left. I made some decisions, did some things, found myself at Underworld."

"That ghoul city? Oh man, have I heard stories about that place!" Raul slapped his knee, earning a glare from the Courier. He held his hands up, silent surrender to let her continue her long story. She cleared her throat to start.

"There was a ghoul named Charon… and he was fucking tall; a goddamn tree he was. Six… maybe seven feet tall? I don't remember exactly. I was drawn to him the first time I laid my eyes on him. He had these bulging muscles and a grim look on his face like he wanted to kill himself after killing everyone else. Kinda like me at the time. I asked around, figured out he was a slave to an asshole named Ahzrukhal."

"_Charon is my loyal… employee."_

"I was near broke and I had to barter a lot. Five hundred and seventy caps later and a night with that slimy fucking douche Ahzrukhal, I gained his contract with the intention to free him of it. He knew what I did with Ahzrukhal to earn his contract, giving him three shots to the head with that beautiful shotgun I would come to name later. One for him, two for me, he said."

"_And now, for good or ill, I serve you."_

"It was weird for a while. I read and re-read that contract for days and nights in a row, looking for a loop hole for him. No dice. So he tagged along and shot everything that could be of danger to me. He stole my kills all the time and it made me so fucking upset. He was overly protective, but that came with the contract. Ahzrukhal said he would harm everyone else except his contract holder, who he was just a big teddy bear to. He was right. You know my Dinky Dino figurine collection?"

"Yeah." Raul laughed, thinking about their Novac suite and how it was chalk full of those little green dinosaurs all over. On the shelves in a neat line, upon chairs and tables, and in the bath tub.

"Well, back in the Capital, I collected teddy bears. They were everywhere, really, if you looked hard enough. Eventually, he came to learn that I gave him freedom. He could scavenge on his own and always came back with at least one teddy bear for me. I swear… he would refuse to come back if he didn't have a teddy bear for me. From there… it got weirder. It was like this attraction just grew. We flirted for days on end, practically acted like we were dating but I'm not sure…"

"_I now have literally two hundred teddy bears. Thanks Char!" She jumped into the tall ghoul's arms that caressed her thighs as she wrapped them around his waist. _

"_It is my pleasure to feed your rather awkward obsession." He nearly laughed, nuzzling into her neck. She sat comfortably. He refused to put her down until she got sick of him and she never seemed to get sick at all. She leaned back, trusting him to support her completely. She leaned into his face with a grin plaguing her face._

"_Your eyes used to be green. Bright green." She whispered, bringing her hands down to his chest. Charon was so strong, he didn't even need to clench her fists for support against him. Charon smiled at her statement, nodding in reply._

"_A lovely green, so the ladies said."_

"_They must have been all over you, eh Charon?"_

"_I never found one good enough for me."_

"He was so kind and gentle hearted behind that hard exterior. It took about five months for use to get that far. It got to the point where I would take bullets for him. I remember a time when this Super Mutant Overlord came out of nowhere and got Charon to the ground. He took salvation behind a car. I was so pissed off that I put on my spiked knuckles and punching the brains out of the mutant. I woke up in the doctor's office three days later. Charon yelled at me for the first time in our entire time together. He yelled for maybe an hour at how dangerous I behaved and how I could have been killed. He almost kissed me that day. That's almost funny now." The Courier laughed bitterly, causing a wave of confusion to wash over Raul.

"_KILLED! You could have been KILLED." Charon punched the wall, ancient dust falling from the stone walls of Tenpenny Tower. He calmed as soon as he saw her flinch. He cleared his throat and walked over to the bedside._

"_I wouldn't know what to do without you. You have my contract… you have a part of me." He breathed deeply, heart breaking at the tears threatening to fall from her gorgeous hazel monuments anyone else of simple culture would call eyes. Suddenly, he felt himself on her, hands supporting her back so she pressed against him. One knee propped between her thighs, she gasped in happy surprise. She leaned forward, ready for this moment since she laid her eyes on him._

_Charon felt suddenly hot and nervous, forehead to forehead with the young Lone Wanderer beneath him. Her hand's lightly caressed his neck, fingers dancing in a soothing pattern. Their lips were nearly touching; one twitch would connect them. The ghoul suddenly felt hot and sweaty, removing his knees from between her legs and standing up._

"_Be… be more careful next time." _

"You think that little embarrassment would have shut either one or both of us down. It didn't. The flirting got more adamant. We sacrificed out lives for each other out there, gave gifts for each other. We slept in the same bed, usually facing opposite ways but we would always end up in each other's arms the next morning. He made me food for my hangovers and even made my old Vault 101 jumpsuit into a cute dress with sleeves. A ghoul of many talents is an understatement for Charon; ultimate badass."

"Sounds like a real keeper." Raul was still trying to get over the fact that a Smoothskin would actually touch a girl in an intimate way. Sure, he had heard of the infamous Daring Dashwood and his loyal ghoul man servant Argyle. A Smoothskin and a ghoul, both the best of friends, but intimacy? Pining to actually touch a ghoul? It baffled him; it baffled a ghoul who had been alive for years and years into the past.

"Yeah… Charon's… He's real amazing." An English accent came out through her words. Raul assumed it was from a parent or where she grew up. He was correct, but he would never have confirmation on that. Courier merely smiled to herself, shaking her head.

"It became a routine. We would almost kiss… but he would always back out. It really started to stomp my grapes."

"Stomp your _grapes_?" Raul stifled a laugh, sputtering through his hand barricade. She rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Charon said it a couple of times. It stuck with me. Now, let me finish! There was one time upon the balcony… oh, I could have hit that boy."

_The stars glimmered amongst the clear, starlit skies. A green hue across the wastes, were once stood Megaton, basked in the night's glow. She sighed, Charon behind her and helping increase her sniping abilities. Large torn hands upon her overly smooth ones, rubbing down her arms and over her curves. Within minutes, the sniper rifle was discarded against the wall and Charon simply held her. His hands rested upon her stomach, thankful that the sweat from his palms couldn't seep through her leather armor. He leaned forward, placing his cheek against hers. _

"_Hey." His raspy voice whispered, cutting through the distant growling of deathclaws fighting Radscorpians. She giggled, leaning over the banister and wiggling against him._

"_Hey." She sang quietly, earning a growl from Charon. Quickly, they linked hands, Charon leaning over and grinding against her. Muffled groans emitted from both parties, soft giggling from her caused him to turn her around. Charon lifted the Lone Wanderer upon the banister, supporting her as the nuzzled._

"_You better hold on tight, Mister Big Muscles." She laughed nervously, too scared to look down._

"_I'll always keep you safe." Charon became deathly serious, looking into her eyes. She sighed dreamily, leaning forward to place her lips against his. Suddenly, she felt her body jerk backwards, screaming and holding onto Charon tighter._

"_Uh, fingers slipped. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. Come on… let's go to lay down darling." He cooed into her ear as she came out of her shock. She would never forget the look of panic within his eyes moments before he dropped her._

"If I wasn't in shock, I would have punched the shit out of that man. I woke up the next morning to water on the bedside table. I turned over and saw him shirtless, covers pooling around his stomach, eyeglasses on and reading a Lying, Congressional Style book I found in this huge building known as Dunwich. I couldn't be mad at him then… I loved those glasses on him. I remember realizing why I had such an attraction to ghouls in a physical aspect. I loved the way the skin tore and fell off and revealed raw muscles. It's so sexy." Courier let out a softly laugh, quickly checking the time on her Pip-Boy. She had been talking for an hour, but Raul egged her on to continue. At least he was interested in her sad former life.

"He looked at me and he smiled. He reserved his smile for me. No one else has seen that genuine smile in over two hundred years except me. Charon dog eared the page and then laid back down so I could snuggle with him as soon as he saw my eyes were open. He was so loyal to me. Over time, I came to learn it wasn't just the contract. I gave him freedom, his emotions were his own. He cared because he wanted to… he was honest too. Whenever we talked about our pasts, he admitted it all. He never found the right girl, he loved running and working out and reading. He was always smart."

"_I never found the right girl because I'm really picky. I want smart, tough, classy but not stuck up. Looks never mattered to me and they still don't but a beautiful face wouldn't hurt, you know?" Charon looked down to her with a smirk._

"_What else?" She prodded, snuggling into his chest._

"_I want a girl who can fight for herself but has no issue with me taking over once in a while to protect her. I look for a girl with a laugh… not a laugh they try to hide because they don't want to sound obnoxious. A real laugh, a loud laugh. Someone who understands my sarcastic humor. Someone who loves to cuddle and be close to me. I guess I like to be around a girl I like all the time. I wouldn't really know that because I've never found her."_

"_That doesn't sound picky, that sounds like good standards." She whispered, concealed in a yawn, shutting her eyes and drifting back to sleep as he stroked her hair. She would never hear Charon grumble a statement about her; in fact, she would never know he said anything after that at all. _

"After we found my dad and my dad died in the Rotunda, he came with me to find that G.E.C.K. I lost Charon when the Enclave pricks captured me. They killed my dad, I killed them and kept their helmets. I woke up and Charon was there, bounded by the wrists like how Benny had me. He was more worried for me than himself and I was more worried for him than myself. President Eden, robot president of all fucking evil, asked me to help him, I refused and slaughtered every individual and robot in that fucking building, after un-bounding Charon of course. We got split up sometime during that fight. I ran from room to room, finally finding Charon in the main room. He was on the ground bleeding, shotgun broken to pieces around him."

"_Honey, come on look at me. Baby, come on! Charon, it's me… please." She cried, emptying the contents of her bag beside her, pouring irradiated water over his gaping wound. Stimpack, irradiated water, stimpack, irradiated water. She chanted that in her mind as Charon groaned, grabbing her arms and pulling her down._

"_It's, ah… it's a lost cau-ause sweetheart. Just relax with me for a bit. Come on and snuggle darling." He rasped, voice choppier than usual. She cried, the wounded (yet strong) ghoul pulled her down and held her close._

"_I've… I've never kissed a girl before. I get really scared because I've never kissed a girl." Charon admitted, looking down to her. She looked up to him, tears pouring harder than ever. He placed one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek, hiding a groan of pain as he maneuvered. She wept, leaning forward and finally placing her lips to his. Sparks flew, fireworks erupted, and tears fell like waterfalls. This moment was perfect and this was how he wanted her to remember him if he didn't make it. _

"_I found her. I've found the right girl." Charon choked, letting irradiated water stream from his milky blue eyes. She shook her head, nearly unable to speak. She hyperventilated, taking deep gasps between each word._

"_Don't say that… don't you fucking say that." She went back to mounting him, pouring water and injecting a stimpack at the same time. The skin started to meld back together, but it was too slow to keep him breathing. If she could keep him alive for five minutes, maybe he could heal enough to finally inject a stimpack to make it stick and do its job. She doubted she could reach the five minute mark. She leaned down, pounding the carpet beside his head._

"_Hey, come on now. It's alright." He held her waist, words starting to slur and blend together. She refused to believe it was happened, shaking her head and refusing to look at Charon. He sighed, grabbing the Lone Wanderer by her face and forcing him to stare at him. He dragged his knuckles across her cheeks, clearing her of all tears._

"_Beautiful… I should have told you from the first time I saw your eyes." He started to cry, genuinely cry, kick starting even more tears from the black haired girl. She sat back up, more empty stimpacks and water being discarded left and right. Finally, she ran out of supplies. It was the waiting game now. Three minutes was all she needed, and then he would be able to walk to the nurses' station she saw down the fall and heal him up right quick. She was James' daughter after all. She was a gifted doctor and she could save him if he was in the right condition to be moved. At this rate, it wasn't looking bright. Any motion could rupture his wound further. _

_Charon pulled her back down and kissed her, using the strength he had left to lift his head and hold her neck. He pulled her bun out, tossing the elastic across the room and tangling his fingers within her hair. She was hopeful, feeling as if some strength was returning to his body. He kissed down her neck and pulled her down, not able to register the pain within his abdomen. She could have cared less about the blood coating her body, simply basking in the warmth of Charon. _

"_I love you," He whispered ", you're beautiful. You're her and I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you." _

"_I love," a gasp ", …"_

_Silence._

_Dead silence. _

_She wept, crawling to the doors and locking them all, then returning to holding onto Charon's lifeless body deep into the night. She took her time before leaving the building, putting the shotgun back together over time. Once all the pieces were together, she looked upon the butt of the gun. If she would have, she would have cried, yet her tears had long been washed up._

_Her name and his, a heart beside them both. It was juvenile and unlike Charon in every single way she could ever think of. It was perfect. _

"I carried him out myself, taking the notes labeled to me I found within his pockets." She held his shotgun between her hands with a dark grim upon her features.

"His name is Charon." Courier referred to the shotgun, holding it close to her body. She set the gun down and started to unwrap stingy bandages from around her wrists. They were there for style, and nothing else. But Raul gasped at the sight of her wrist.

_For Good Or Ill_ was tattooed in capital letters, each word owning its own line upon her left wrist.

_One For My Baby _in the exact same fashion upon her right.

"He's the only man… only other person I'll love like a romantic partner. I'll have friends, I'll have loved ones, I'll have you as both. But Charon? I'll only ever want Charon as my romance. Only him." She looked up at the moon, silently hoping Charon was somewhere… staring at the same moon she was.

"That's why you've avoided all my willy charms, huh?" He lightly bumped her, trying to up the mood. Courier never cracked a smile, wrapping the bandages back around and looking down towards him.

"Goodnight."

Raul wondered if there would come a day she would tell a story to her next ghoul companion of him someday. But right now, he had to take patrol for his emotionally exhausted friend.

"For good or ill." Raul whispered, nodding into the peaking sunset. They never spoke of that night in the Mojave or Charon every again, but Raul would always know why she had that sad look deep within her eyes. When she stared off into the starlit sky, reminiscing in the nostalgia of that night on the balcony and the morning after.

He would always know.

**WOO! SAD STORY IS SAD! I hope everyone enjoyed. :)**

**xoxoPN**


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